Obama: Americans 'Fed Up With Washington,' Something Most Can Agree On

President Barack Obama acknowledged Thursday that "the American people are completely fed up with Washington," a statement following a 16-day government shutdown that perhaps people on both sides of the aisle can agree on.

But the president is part of Washington. And not everyone fed up with Washington is fed up with conservative Republicans who pollsters say are getting the blame for the 16-day government shutdown that ended Thursday.

In his morning remarks after government employees returned to work and national parks reopened, the president criticized Congress, saying, “At a moment when our economic recovery demands more jobs, more momentum, we have another self-inflicted crisis that set our economy back.”

Standard & Poor’s said in a news release, “We believe that to date, the shutdown has shaved at least 0.6 percent off of annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth, or taken $24 billion out of the economy.”

Obama made his comments after signing a bill that ended the government shutdown and extended its ability to borrow money so it could pay off its debts and avoid what leading economists said could cause a financial meltdown. But the legislation only funds the government through Jan. 15 and raises the borrowing authority through Feb. 7. Meaning this could all happen again. Soon.

Said the president: “All my friends in Congress understand that how business is done in this town has to change. Because we’ve all got a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people.”

President Barack Obama acknowledged Thursday that "the American people are completely fed up with Washington," a statement following a 16-day government shutdown that perhaps people on both sides of the aisle can agree on.